Kiko was trying her best not to cry. Really, something told her that she was always strong, but she new
nothing
of her former life. Not a thing. Except for vague
feelings
, flashes of
something
, and of course, her own name.
But being naked at the mouth of what looked like a crypt in some place that did not look like it bore life and was of no world that she could even tangentially recall did not seem like something inner strength could prevail over; the skies high above were torn apart by red lightning, with billowing black clouds that let some sort of light through, enough to illuminate the land in a gloomy manner, not that there was much to see, high up on some mountain ledge overlooking a vast, flat desert, what looked to be the edges of a canyon to her left facing away from the tomb entrance, and a little bit yonder, a large, towering mountain with clouds swirling around the peak.
She must have been on a mountain part of the same range. But she could not fathom where anyone would have come from to even build the tunnel she now stood before, let alone haul the heavy brick stones to the cliff's edge; there was no path, no set of steps, no route in which people could have taken, just a sheer drop and jagged rock formations below.
Unless, of course, this was some strange overlook watching over a desert of nothing, and the true entrance was through the yawning dark of the catacombs.
She did not know why she believed it to be some cursed place for the dead, it was just a gut feeling, and it was strong.
She held back a whimper, looking up at the horizontal brickwork topping the two supporting pillars, a block in the middle emblazoned with a carved skull, though the sockets were not empty, instead possessing eyes with closed lids.
That was more evidence to what she feared this place was.
But she had no choice; the wind whipped at her nude, pale form, short dark hair still managing to get into her eyes. If she stayed up there, either starvation or the elements would kill her.
Yet, she did not have hope of finding salvation here; what food could there possibly be in such a terrible place.
She considered the rocky crags below the cliff... it would be terrifying, but quick.
Something in her denied her pursuing such an outcome. She had to find a way.
So, she steeled herself with a deep breath, and ventured into the dark gloom of the tunnel.
The walls by the entrance were anything but noteworthy, blank, dark brickwork and nothing else, until, when she could barely see anything, she came upon a set of heavy wooden doors.
At first, her spirits sank even further, thinking she was trapped here, nowhere to go. She placed her hand on the door, ready to allow herself a sob.
It creaked, and moved.
She looked up, eyes wide, and then she pushed on the door with both hands.
She strained with force, her body not very muscular, but it was enough to force the door open, not locked or secured through any means.
Once it was open enough, she slipped inside, and looked around; it was still gloomy, but there was light inside, owing to the many candles burning weakly around the place, great amounts of melted wax pooled around their bases and hardened down the sides of stone slabs, along with sconces with old torches that seemed to burn flickeringly.
They all seemed like they should've burned out years ago, but here still they smouldered.
Things were slightly more ornate inside, horizontal supports on the ceilings spanning between support pillars baring that same visage of a skull with closed eyes.
However, there were other reliefs on the walls in between each stone support beam, depicting strange beings with horns and either feminine or masculine traits.
But more worryingly, between each pillar, beneath these busts, were alcoves carved out, covered in leather hides and skins, both furred and not, and some looking unusually gnarled.
Some were empty, too many others... bore a corpse.
Or, at least she thought they were corpses.
Some she was dead certain of, clean skeletons laying neatly on their 'beds', looking as if they had a peaceful rest.
The others though, they looked like they had not died long ago. Their skins were blued and pale, and their eyes were just slightly sunken, but they had no smell. There was no rot anywhere on their naked bodies, and rather oddly, they possessed no hair anywhere except on their heads, the male figures sporting no beards among them.
The oddities did not end there, however; men and women alike, they all looked attractive to Kiko, though they seemed foreign to her. Yet... they didn't look quite... real. There was a sameness to their faces, and not because they looked to be from other lands. They were strangely... common. Only slight differences among them, and in her gut, she just didn't think they were once real people. As if they followed a template of conventionally attractive individuals, but lacked individuality themselves.
It unsettled Kiko, and she decided not to look at them anymore. Especially since she found her eyes also lingering on their more... intimate parts.
She kept moving, finding her path splitting, each passage more crypt. Here and there, she saw a random lone skull laying against the walls with no rhyme or reason, none of the skeletons missing theirs.
She took the right path for no reason in particular, and as she went deeper, she came across the odd plinth with a bowl-shaped depression in their octagonal tops.
The bowls were filled with dust, the old, disintegrated remains of... offerings, perhaps? In one, she thought she saw the vague shape of a leaf, in another, a small bone from something unknown.
They were seemingly placed at random, and she had no idea why. She didn't care to find out, instead going deeper, hoping to find an exit, somewhere to escape to, to just...
find her way
.
Whatever terrible world she'd found herself in, she had no choice but to traverse it.
